catching up, part three - hallowe'en

We carved pumpkins. And made pumpkin soup - following a recipe from Heidi at 101cookbooks - with brown rice, toasted pumpkin seeds, parsley and scalliions. We used the "decorative" pumpkin from Thanksgiving. And we ate it with roasted kale and beet salad, based on Sarah B's recipe at My New Roots (Have I mentioned that I adore her site, her life, and look up to her a LOT, as another Sarah B from Ontario who dreams about someday being a cook and doing a holistic nutrition degree?)

S. had never carved a pumpkin before (!), but I think he did a great job.

It was my first time carving in a couple years, and for the last decade I have mostly carved OM symbols. Not faces. Don't ask.

The soup was delicious, we ate it all week for lunches and felt so nourished. It was bright, the colour sunny and uplifting, the texture rich and fulfilling, leaving us satisfied and full, yet knowing we'd put great, healthy food in our bellies.

And I got my lover on the roasted kale chip train. Meaning that last week he made me dinner (while I read my book - lucky girl!). It was roasted kale and potatoes, with spicy Italian sausage and romesco sauce. Did I mention I'm lucky?

Adventures in preservation - prepping for the zombie apocalypse

So, I haven't posted in over a month, but I have been cooking, farmer's marketing, and canning. Lots to update, lots of pictures to post, but still too much summer to enjoy to want to spend my time typing things up here. And I'm so busy researching canning recipes that I spend more time reading than writing. Also, I was (extremely belatedly) forced to watch 24, and that addiction has been taking up a lot of my time lately. There have been lots of trips to the island (including some at night)

ferry rides back:

picnic lunches, including a recent obsession with muffaletta sandwiches (that one was the first I made, and it was 2.5 pounds!) :

some dinner parties with pizza and a peach blackberry cobbler, a la dash and bella (surprise, surprise)

Nights out dancing to Nima Gorji until 5am.

And most recently, a trip to Prince Edward County for a campout/pig roast/wine party at Norman Hardie's amazing winery. Norm is such an interesting, hospitable, talented guy! And his wines (the Pinot Noir especially) are some of my favourites from Ontario.

We also stopped in at a couple other wineries before heading to Norm's. Closson Chase was quite lovely, with outdoor seating in the garden to enjoy tasting their wines. It was a gorgeous day! I took more than a few pictures and we sat and enjoyed a few of their Chardonnays and a couple of Pinots. I normally am not *big* on Chard, unless it is the steely, minerally, unoaked versions, but I have in the past couple of years tried not to say "I don't really like 'insert vegetable/ingredient/wine style'" and to recognize that my palate is constantly evolving and wanting to be challenged. So...there's something about the Closson Chase CCV Chardonnay that is sticking with me. I can almost still taste its complexity and distinct character.

Once at Norm's we set up our tent, took a tour (there's speck drying in the cellar!!!! and heirloom seeds for sale upstairs!!!), then settled in for some wine, a sunset and pizza from the outdoor wood oven.

It was a collection of people from the restaurant industry, and everyone brought one bottle of wine, for anyone to try. I tried a LOT. But my pictures (and note-taking) pretty much stop there! There was a phenomenal sunset I snapped though.

On our way out, Norm told us to take some of his heirloom tomatoes, so I filled up a bag, and preserved them whole today.

I also canned roasted tomato and dried chile salsa (with St Lawrence Farmers Market tomatoes), a couple jars of pickled beets, one quick jar of pickled red onions with the leftover beet brine, and my FIRST attempt at fermentation with a mixture of chiles also from St Lawrence farmers market. Maybe I'll get into details about these later...for now, the roasted tomato salsa is from Doris and Jilly cook and the fermented chiles are based on Grow and Resist's recipe, with lots of online research as well. Both sites were found via Tigress's website, from her 2010 can-jam round ups.

Oh, and that zombie apocalypse thing...Just a dream I had last night, probably too much 24 watching!

Valentines Day: aka single appreciation day

So, its been over a month and no new posts from me. Still haven't posted the blood orange marmalade recipe! I rock ;) Oddly, that brings me to the topic of this post - how much I am happy and at peace with myself lately.

I had a mini-staycation last week (for me that means two days off in a row - weekdays so I'm not necessarily out and about the whole time), and I discovered this awesome food blog My New Roots. Sarah (B!) is from Ontario, went to a holistic nutrition school in Toronto (a school I myself have looked into), and now is a cook at some vegetarian restaurants in Copenhagen. Her blog is filled with nutritional information, delicious vegetarian recipes, and beautiful photography. I found a link there from Heidi at 101 cookbooks, another of my favourites. Prompted by my 48+ hours of uninterrupted ME time, and my readings on My New Roots, I cooked up a storm of healthy things! I also started doing yoga on a MUCH more regular basis again.

I made roasted spicy chickpeas (to eat when my salty/crunchy cravings hit), cooked some lentils and quinoa to turn into salads to bring to work, started some broccoli sprouts and got my juicer out of its 6 year cupboard hibernation. For dinner I had garlicky roasted mushrooms, sauteed red chard (also with garlic!), and french lentils. From the basic lentils I also made this curried lentil salad.

After these lovely few days, I had to go back to work every night this past weekend. But I had so much positive energy! I've also been reading another amazing blog lately - Waiter Rant - and I'm working my way through the archives. Slowly. It is beautifully written. Steve now has a couple of books, and is obviously an accomplished writer. He also went to seminary school for theology earlier in life, and while he (thankfully) doesn't ooze religious views into his writing, there is certainly a philosophical slant to things. And despite the title (I'd heard of his book, and was skeptical at first) he illuminates both the funny/cynical side of serving, while integrating many heartwarming and also sad stories. It has made me even more conscious and passionate about what I do. Steve has a post at one point about serving being an outlet for shy people - something we can do that allows us to connect (for short periods of determined time) with others. On a related note, I was talking with some friends (during our post-work drinks-decompression) about how our society is so isolated - how awkward it is on the subway sometimes with everyone trying to stay within their own cell phone/book/newspaper/ipod bubble and avoid eye contact. I remarked that one thing that makes serving so wonderful is the fact that each and every day I have the opportunity to connect and impact dozens of people. Dozens of strangers.

Anyway, I'm feeling pretty blissed out. All of which is a very long and drawn out explanation for the topic at hand (gee, maybe I should update more often!) Today is Valentines Day. Some of my friends (and I'm sure many, many people) are moping about, sad and/or bitter to be single. Me: I'm at peace. More than at peace, I'm thankful, and happy. I love my life, my job, my friends, my family. I'm excited for my future. I'm enjoying living each day, giving to myself, expending my energy on ME (along with all those guests!) I'm genuinely happy for all those people who are in truly loving relationships, but I know that is not what I want right now. Or, at least, it is not something I feel lacking of. That said, I'm happy I had the night off (class in the morning!) to give back to myself. I made a nice meal:

No recipe. Its just roasted golden and regular beets, VERY thinly sliced chioggia (or candy cane) beets, some baby greens, tarragon and mint. With blood orange, buffalo mozzarella and some olive oil, ramp pickling liquid and fleur de sel. Very pretty, very tasty. Now some wine, a salt bath, and a wine book.

I hope everyone out there had a wonderful day as well.